Warm My Cold Heart
by Echo of Rain 07
Summary: Young Cinderella is constantly tormented by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. So she decides to run away from home. While she is gone she meets a boy who teaches her how to smile and no matter how hard things can be to believe in your dreams.
1. A Warm Feeling In the Cold

Hey everyone! This is a story leading up to a Cinderella x Terra fanfic I am going to write. It takes place when they are children so no romance yet. ^^ Well enjoy...and tell me if you run into any bad errors.

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A tall well dressed woman and her two daughters walked along the streets of town with their much less fortunate young step sister trailing behind them.

"Cinderella!" The step mother called out to the girl. "Pick up your pace. Must you be so slow?"

The little girl sighed and began walking faster.

This time of the year always made young Cinderella very sad. It was winter, which meant one thing to children: Christmas. The season of love, happiness, and presents made every child squeal in delight. All children but Cinderella that is. The entirety of her life she was raised by a very cruel stepmother and stepsisters. They treated her very poorly and made her work, day after day.

She was not allowed to have toys or play with any other children. The only thing she was allowed to do was dress in rags and does chores around the house.

Being young and not understanding why her sister's where treated better than herself she often questioned her stepmother." Stepmother why must I always work?" she asked with pleading eyes looking up at her. The woman gave her an icy glare back. "It is because you are not my real daughter. You have no parents left alive so I take care of you. Child, you should be grateful that I am giving you a roof over your head and a meal to eat."

So her first eleven years of life all she did was work. Christmas being a season of happiness was something she didn't understand. As a matter of fact, the little girl probably didn't understand what the word "happy" even meant.

The group of four continued walking until they reached a toy store. The two stepsisters squealed in delight.

"May we go inside mother?" one of the girls pleaded. The woman nodded in response and the two sisters scurried into the store.

Cinderella looked up at her stepmother "May I also go inside?"

The woman shook her head. "You may not. I've told you that you are not allowed to have toys." the cold heated mother said following her daughters into the store.

Cinderella sighed and looked up at the sky. A light snow was beginning to fall. Lifting up her hands and letting the snow land into her thin hole filled mittens the tiny pair of hands shivered.

She watched the people walk by without a thought in her head. Some of them laughing and hugging their family members. Others leading their children into various stores.

After a while of watching, Cinderella began to shiver from the cold. The thin rags rapped around her body barely held in the heat. But the obedient girl continued to stand in the very spot she was left, not moving an inch.

A few more minutes passed and another little girl holding a large fluffy teddy bear, along with her mother, walked out of the toy store. The girl stopped in front of the store and tugged on her mothers arm.

"Can you buy us some hot chocolate?" the little girl asked.

The mother smiled and nodded. "Okay Suzie, wait right here and I will go buy us some."

The little girl clapped her mittens together and smiled. "Thank you." she said hugging her teddy bear tight. Then the mother walked away for a moment.

Cinderella fixated her eyes on the teddy bear the girl next to her was holding. It was a fairly large bear with very fuzzy looking brown fur and black buttons for eyes. The bear also had a pink bow tie.

The poor girl smiled from ear to ear looking at the bear. For some reason it gave her a warm feeling just seeing it.

Suzie spotted Cinderella looking at her and smiled. "Hello there. My name is Suzie how are you?"

Cinderella shyly put her head down and turned away. Suzie scooted closer to her and giggled.

"You don't have to be afraid. All I said was Hi."

Cinderella nodded in response and the girl smiled.

"You look cold why don't you go stand inside the store?" Suzie offered

The poor girl just shook her head. "I'm not allowed to." she said in a very quiet voice

"That's no fun! Don't you want to look at all of the toys?" the friendly girl asked

Cinderella nodded "Yes but I can't."

The cheerful girl took Cinderella by the hand and walked her up to the store window.

"Well at least look inside from out here." the girl suggested

So Cinderella looked into the window. What she saw inside the store was the most beautiful thing she had ever laid her eyes on. Toy train sets, baby dolls, blocks, doll houses, teddy bears and colorful lights flashing in every direction. The girls small eyes lit up with the sights she saw.

Suzie chuckled seeing the expression of the girl next to her. "You look like you've never seen toys before."

Cinderella hung her head down. "I don't have any toys." she said sadly.

Suzie frowned and looked at her. "That must be awful." she said.

She continued to look at Cinderella then she looked at the teddy bear in her arms.

"How would you like to have mine then?" the girl said smiling and holding up her bear.

Cinderella's eyes widened "Really?"

"Yes, I want you to have my teddy bear! His name is Joseph; please take good care of him." Suzie said placing the bear in Cinderella's arms.

Cinderella smiled and hugged the bear tight. "Thank you." she said happily

"No problem!" The kind girl said with a grin.

Suzie turned her head in the direction her mother was standing. "My mom just called me, I have to go. Bye Bye!" she shouted running off.

"Bye." Cinderella said waving to her, and then she watched the girl and her mother disappeared into the distance.

She looked down at the large bear in her arms and hugged it tight. She felt so warm inside that it was overwhelming. Tears came to hear eyes and she wept. "I-I'm happy." she said, for the first time understanding what it meant to feel the emotion.

She continued smiling and rocked back and forth on her feet humming softly to herself, while occasionally looking down at the bear.

After a while the stepmother and her two daughters walked out of the store, each carrying large bags full of toys. Cinderella greeted them with a smile and a hello.

"It's time to go home." the stepmother said.

The older stepsister gave the ragity girl a snooty glare. "Why are you so happy? It's discussing."

The younger stepsister looked over at Cinderella and spotted the bear in her arms. She walked over and pulled it out of her grasp. "What do we have here?" she asked curiously looking at it.

Cinderella grabbed the bear and tried to pull it away from her. "That's mine don't take it away!" the poor girl begged.

The older stepsister walked over and pulled the bear from her younger sister. "What a nice bear, I think I'll keep it." she said

The younger girl glared. "No I saw it first!" she shouted yanking it away. And with that both girls began tugging on the bear, ripping its fur off and pulling its limbs apart.

Cinderella fell to her knees and sobbed. "No please stop it!" she weakly yelled.

Then the stepmother jumped in between her daughters pulling them apart. "How disgraceful! I will not have my daughters acting like this in public." she shouted at them

Both girls stopped tugging on the bear and apologized to their mother. One of the sisters turned her head and stuck her tongue out at their young stepsister.

Cinderella laid on the ground and started sobbing uncontrollably.

The stepmother pulled the girl to her feet and slapped her across the face. "Stop this at once or I will not give you dinner tonight."

Cinderella tried to stop her tears but they would not cease, so her angry stepmother shouted at her again. "You're making a scene in public so I will not allow you to have dinner tonight." she said dragging the girl away by her arm. The stepsisters just laughed and followed along.

When they arrived home the stepmother threw her stepdaughter into her room and locked the door. "You will not come out of this room until tomorrow." she said in an icy voice before walking away.

Cinderella crawled up on her bed and hugged her pillow in between her knees while crying. She cried and cried until she had no tears left. Then she sleepily stood to her feet. Feeling something sticky on the bottom of her shoe, she took it off and looked to see what it was. It was the pink bow that was on the bear she had earlier.

She wrapped in her hand tightly and walked over to her window. It was just not fair that she wasn't allowed to feel happiness like all the other children she saw. So she decided that she would leave her stepmother's house. She didn't know where she would go, but anywhere would be better than somewhere that made her feel miserable.

So she put on her thin winter jacket and opened the only window in the room. She stood up on her tip toes and jumped out of it falling into a bush. Standing up, she brushed the snow off herself and immediately took off running into the woods.


	2. A Boy In The Woods

Hey! Hope everyone is liking the story. I plan to do a sequel when it's finished. Just thought I would say that.

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Cinderella continued running until she was too tired to do so. Then she slowed her run down to a walk, and finally a stagger. The cold winter air filled her little lungs and made it harder to breathe so she sat down after walking a ways.

"I'll just rest for a minute." the girl said looking around.

After a moment of looking she spotted a nice place to sit under a pine tree. So she stood to her feet, walked over to the tree, and leaned her back to the large plant. The pine shook violently when she sat by it and a large heap of snow fell from the top, plastering her body to the ground.

She struggled to move but was trapped beneath its icy hold on her. Panicking, she began shouting for help. Several minutes passed and she started weeping.

"I'm sorry I was a bad girl stepmother." she said weakly. "I promise if I can come home I will never be bad again. I won't even complain about missing dinner once in a while."

Time continued to pass and the mountain of snow on her back was beginning to take affect on the girl's body. The small girl was so frozen that she couldn't speak anymore or even shiver. Her face started turning blue and she began to fall into a deep sleep. By this time it was late at night and it began snowing again.

For a long time she felt cold, but after a while began to feel warm again.

Cinderella's eyes fluttered open and the girl quickly sat up pulling a blanket she did not recognize off herself. _"Am I dead?"_ the girl though looking around the new area she awoke to. She was inside of what looked like a cave with a little fire going in the center and a bag stuffed full of cloths setting to the side.

She watched as a young boy about her age came walking through the entrance to the cave. He knelt down by her and smiled. "Looks like you woke up. Thank goodness, I was worried you wouldn't make it. You where really cold under all that snow."

The boy had short brown hair, the same color as her teddy bear once had, and bright blue eyes. He was dressed in a long brown winter coat with a red stripped scarf around his neck.

Fascinated by that color of brown, Cinderella reached up and tugged at the boy's hair.

He grunted but didn't stop her. "That hurts." he said calmly, so she released her grip.

"Sorry." she said quietly, looking to the ground.

"It's okay, don't worry about it." the boy said with a smile. He stood to his feet and walked over to his bag taking out a can.

He approached Cinderella and handed her the cup. "Here it's warm soup. Why don't you have some?"

The girl eagerly took the cup from him and drank it down in seconds; ignoring the burning feeling it gave her tongue.

"Wow you sure must have been hungry!" the boy said with a laugh. He took the cup back and sat down by her side.

"So what were you doing out in the woods by yourself? It's dangerous at night." he questioned

Cinderella shook her head. "I-I umm...I-I..." the girl stuttered nervously

The boy gave her a reassuring smile. "You don't have to be nervous, you're safe now. I promise."

He turned his head to the entrance of the cave, his blue eyes looking out into the snow. "I bet your also wondering why I'm out here too." he said quietly.

Cinderella said nothing so the boy continued talking.

"It's because..." he said standing to his feet "I ran away from home!" he shouted "That's right I ran away!" he laughed throwing a fist into the air.

Cinderella looked at him curiously. So she wasn't the only kid who had ideas of running away. She smiled up at him.

He returned her smile and sat back down. "What about you? Why are you out here?" he asked again.

Cinderella didn't respond, she just looked down at the ground.

The boy turned his head, noticing her silence. "I see your a quiet one. I like that; people who talk too much are annoying."

"Why?" Cinderella asked beginning to feel a little more comfortable around him.

He grinned. "Well it looks like you actually can talk." then he paused. "I don't like talkative people because, there is a girl I know who talks way too much! Ever since she came to live with my master and I all she does is hog all the attention!" he crossed his arms and gave Cinderella a pouting look.

She giggled in response. "It's not funny." he said sadly "This girl is the whole reason I ran away from home. My master doesn't love me anymore; he only loves the new girl."

Cinderella gave him an odd look. "You don't have parents?"

The boy shook his head. "No I don't remember my parents, they died with I was a baby. But I'm not sad about it because I've always lived with my master. He trains me, teaches me about dreams, and helps me get stronger everyday!" he said, his eyes glowing.

Cinderella felt a little confused. "If you were so happy with him why did you run away?"

The boy frowned. "It's because my master adopted a new student, a girl about my age, and all he does is pay attention to her. He doesn't even care about me anymore! So I ran away." he said looking at the ground.

"I ran away too." Cinderella said in response.

The boy smiled. "Wow really? That's Cool we both ran away, we should both live in this cave together! Our name could be the run away duo! Awesome right?" he said with a chuckle.

The girl laughed quietly, being around this boy made her feel warm, like when she held the teddy bear. Maybe she had found a place where she could be happy.

"Okay I guess." she said

Then the boy shook her hand. "Great, now where friends!"

"Friends?" Cinderella said in a questioning way. She had never once in her life had a friend.

"Yep!" The boy responded, and then he lied back on the cave floor. "Now that were friends, can you tell me why you ran away from home?"

The girl just shook her head. Cinderella didn't feel ready to tell her new friend about the life she left behind.

He sighed. "That's okay I guess, just tell me when your ready." he shut his eyes. "How about we get some sleep now? It's really late."

Cinderella nodded in response and lied back down, covering herself with the blanket.

Then he whispered one last thing very quietly to himself "Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials."

Cinderella could just barely make out what he said and wondered what it meant. But she was too tired to ask, so she let sleep carry her away.


	3. What Dreams Are

The first rays of morning sunlight shone into the cave entry and caused the sleeping girl to awaken. She felt the ground with her hands and sat up slightly startled, wondering why she wasn't in her own bed. Then she suddenly remembered that she ran away. Sighing, she ran a hand threw her blonde hair. This meant that she didn't have to do any chores. If she didn't have chores, then what was she supposed to do?

The girl looked over to where the young boy was laying last night, and he wasn't there anymore. She looked around the cave and noticed a few changes. The fire from last night was put out and the boy's bag was still in the same spot, but it was empty. What it formerly contained was scattered about the cave; cloths where hung on some wire, a few cans where in a pile, and a picture in a frame was sitting near the empty bag.

She stood up and walked over to the picture, curiously looking at it. In the picture she saw the boy and a much older man standing next to him. He was dressed like a samurai and looked very tough, but kind.

Then she heard some shouts coming from out of the cave that sounded like the boy. So she walked to the entrance and peeked out to see what he was doing.

He stood in place and swung around what appeared to be a sword or maybe a giant key. Then he lunged forward and struck a tree with it shouting, "Hiya!"

Cinderella walked toward him and tapped his shoulder. He jumped in surprise and turned his weapon on her. Startled, she backed up and fell to the ground in a pile of fresh snow.

The weapon disappeared from his hand and he scratched his head. "Sorry about that." he said extending a hand out to the girl. She took it and he helped her up.

"What was that sword?" she asked him, looking down at his hand.

"Umm it's a weapon." he said slapping his forehead "And nobody from this world- er I mean land is supposed to see it." the boy said staggering over his words.

"So it's a secret?"

"Yeah, but let's just say that weapon is what I'm training to become skilled at under my master." he replied striding back into the cave.

She followed closely behind and they sat down where the fire used to be. Cinderella wondered about the boy's secret. Whenever her stepmother and stepsisters talked about secrets they all ways told her she was not allowed to know. She hoped the boy would tell her his secret.

"So about that secret...can you tell me?" she asked scooting closer to him.

The boy scratched his face a minute in thought. "I guess I could tell you." he replied _"After all telling one person shouldn't hurt the world order." _he thought

Cinderella smiled in excitement.

"But first, how about you tell me about yourself and why you ran away from home." the boy bargained.

Cinderella twitched nervously, but decided she would tell him. She was eager to learn his secrets. So the blue eyed girl began telling him about her life, her stepmother, stepsisters, and how they treated her. After she had finished the boy stared in astonishment at her.

"That's awful." he said in a whisper. "It makes the reasons I ran away for seem silly. It sounds like home was much worse for you."

She smiled "Don't feel silly. I'm happy you ran away, otherwise I would never have made a friend."

He smiled back. "You must have a very strong heart. How did you live in such misery and not feel horrible?"

She frowned "I just got used to it, but I was always sad."

"How did you deal with the sadness?" the boy wondered

"Nothing." she said shrugging her shoulders

"Do you know what I do when I'm sad?" he asked

"Run away from home?" she answered with a smile

"No!" he said crossing his arms. "I dream!"

"Dream? What's that?"

He gapped at her. "You don't know about dreams? No wonder you're so sad all the time!"

He sat down again and began telling her about the wonders of imagination and dreaming. He told her tales of impossible things and added in made up characters. She giggled at his silly stories.

"Imagine that I'm a big lion with huge teeth and paws." he said making a growing noise and walking around her on all four limbs.

She continued laughing "That makes no sense!"

He laughed too. "Imagining doesn't have to make sense! It's all for fun! The same with dreaming!" he continued to make silly noises and tell her stories and she laughed harder than she ever had in her entire life. After a while she found herself joining in on the stories adding in her own parts.

"Hey you're a natural at this!" he said with a laugh.

"What if I had wings instead of arms?" she said flapping her arms.

They both laughed. "Or the wings could be coming out of your back like an angel!" he said jumping behind her and poking her backside.

They stopped telling stories after they both began to get hungry.

"I'll make us some soup!" the boy hollered standing up and walking to his pile of cans. He grabbed two and took them to their fire spot and motioned for Cinderella to move away.

She took a few steps back and watched the boy close his eyes while lifting up a hand. In his hand a flash of light appeared and the sword she saw from earlier had returned to his grasp. He pointed the tip of the blade at the fire pit and whispered "Fire." then a small spark caught on the branches and a little fire started.

Cinderella clapped her hands. "That was amazing!" she exclaimed "It was like magic!"

He sat down and scowled. "It's still not good enough; Aqua can make a huge fire! Hers can burn down a whole tree! I can barely get a spark going."

Cinderella sat down. "Well why don't you continue practicing? When I first started cooking I always burned everything, but after some practice I got better."

The brown haired boy sighed "But I have been practicing. My master says I rely on strength too much and I'm too obsessed with power. So it's blocking my concentration."

"What exactly is it that you are learning? You still haven't even told me the secrets you promised." she scratched her head and thought for a moment. "I don't even know your name."

The boy looked at the ground. "Okay I guess I'll tell you. I did make you a deal after all." he paused and held out his hand and the glowing sword came back. "My name is Terra and this is my weapon. It's called a Keyblade and I'm training to one day become a master."

"So you're training to become a warrior?" she wondered

Terra shook his head. "More like...a protector. Keyblade masters protect people."

"I think….I understand." she said with a smile. "So to master that weapon...you have to make fires?"

Terra chuckled "No, you have to learn magic, that fire was just one kind. But you also have to learn to be physically tough." He pointed to his chest. "But the most important thing you need is to have strength of heart."

"Okay, it sounds a little confusing but I guess I understand."

Terra rubbed his stomach "Enough talk, why don't we eat?"

Cinderella nodded in agreement so they heated up their soup cans and sat there calmly for a while, enjoying the warm broth. They didn't talk much, except for one comment Cinderella made, teasing Terra about him only bringing soup can. They laughed then Terra blurted out a question.

"So what's your name? You never told me."

The girl touched a hand to her chin. "Your right I guess I didn't ever tell you. I'm Cinderella."

Terra smiled "Okay, how about I call you Ella?"

She giggled. "I think that's okay."

He stood up. "M'kay, why don't we go outside and play?"

The girl cocked her head to the side. "Play?"

"Yeah play with me, silly!" he said pulling the girl to her feet. He dragged her outside and they trudged through the snow until the two located a spot where the white mass wasn't piled as high up. Then he showed her different games that children often played like hide n' seek and racing. He taught her other games as well, but they where ones he made up himself. The children spent the rest of the day playing in the cool outdoor weather.


	4. Finding Her Dream

After the two kids where done playing, it began getting darker out. The two stood by a tree with a light coat of snow on it. "Last one back to the cave has to eat a cup of snow!" Terra shouted taking off, shortly after his dart forward Cinderella took off as well.

"That's not fair! You didn't warn me we where going to start running."

Terra just laughed in response and kept running. Cinderella began picking up speed and caught up to the boy, laughing as she passed him up. He frowned and tried to pick up his pace as well, but could not catch up to the girl. Cinderella reached the cave first and jumped to her spot next to the fire. The brown haired boy slowed his run down and walked into the cave panting. He flopped onto the floor and wiped sweat off his face.

"Geez how did you get so fast Ella?" he complained

She just giggled. "I'm used to being on my feet all day. A little run threw the woods is nothing."

"Aww man I never would have guessed!" Terra complained rolling over onto his stomach.

His friend gave him an impish smile. "I believe you said the loser had to eat a cup of snow?" she said trying to suppress a laugh.

The boy got up on his knees and shuffled next to her. " I want a rematch! It wasn't a fair race remember? You said I took a head start. So I say it shouldn't count."

Cinderella stuck her tongue out at him. "You're just saying that because you don't want to eat a cup of snow!"

Terra ignored her comment. "How about we have a rematch tomorrow? We can play hide n' seek. It's almost impossible to cheat at that."

The blonde girl chuckled. "It is still possible to cheat at that game, if you try and watch me to see where I'm hiding."

The boy stood up and crossed his heart with a finger. "I promise not to cheat this time! Cross my heart!"

His friend poked him in the side. "Okay you had better not be lying."

The two continued to talk for a wile until they decided it was time to eat dinner. After dinner was over they lied down by the fire and began to relax for the night.

"Remember when we talked about dreams yesterday?" Terra asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Yeah I do." the girl said with a smile. "That was fun we should make up stories again sometime."

The boy sat up strait. "Dreams aren't just about making up stories you know. They can also have to do with dreaming for your future, like things that you want to happen someday."

Cinderella scratched her head, feeling a little confused. "I've never thought about what I wanted to do when I'm older. I thought I was just going to work for my stepmother, but now I'm not so sure."

Terra laughed. "Well the future is ALL that I think about!" he said in an eager voice. "My dream is to become a Keyblade Master and be strong enough to protect everyone I care about!"

Cinderella smiled. "That's a wonderful dream. Too bad I don't have one..."

The boy patted her shoulder. "Don't worry I'll help you think of one. Just tell me some of the things you like and I'll help you come up with one."

"Well." The girl began. "I like the games we played outside and I like soft things." she said remembering the teddy bear she used to have."

"Hmm that's a tough one!" he thought for a few more minutes before speaking again. "I really only know one girl other than you and that's Aqua. One of the things she likes is to dress up. Do you think you would like dressing up like a princess?"

The young girl nodded. "You mean in a sparkly gown? I can sew really well so I could make one!" she answered

Terra chuckled "I think you like that idea! You're eyes just lit up when you said that!"

Cinderella smiled "They did?"

"Yes, your heart likes the sound of that! You could make a dress...and you could make it soft since you like soft things." Terra replied

"That sounds wonderful! Don't you think?"

The boy made a face at her. "If you like that sort of thing, I think it's too girly...but this is your dream. You should make it the way you want."

The girl grinned. "Okay! So someday when I'm older I'll make a dress." she reached into her pocket and pulled out the pink bow that was once on the teddy bear. "And I'll put this bow on it."

"Whatever you say Princess Ella." he said giving her a slight bow.

Cinderella blushed. "I'm no princess."

"You can be anything you want to be as long as you put your mind to it!" the boy shouted flopping over onto his back.

"Wow so even I could be a princess?"

"Yeah, if you going to make a dress you might as well try to be a princess while your at it."

"How do I become a princess?"

Terra sat back up. "That's easy! Just marry a prince! Whenever a prince is looking for a bride he throws a big party called a Ball and chooses the one he likes best!"

Cinderella twitched in her seat excitedly "Oh that sounds wonderful! I want that to be my dream!"

Terra grabbed her hand and shook it. "Congrats Ella, now you have your dream."

She smiled triumphantly, almost as if she had won an award. "This is great I've never been this happy before."

Terra smiled. "Now whenever you get sad just remember your dream and it will make you feel better promise!"

She nodded "Okay."

Terra put his hands behind his head and yawned. "We should go to sleep, so tomorrow when we play hide and seek I'll have enough energy to laugh when I watch you eat that cup of snow."

Cinderella made a face at him. "We'll see about that." The two laughed and snuggled up close to the fire. Not too long after, the both of them had fallen asleep. This night's sleep for Cinderella, however, was different than it normally was. Instead of seeing nothing in her sleep like usual, Cinderella had dreams of the Ball and dancing in her beautiful dress. For the first time, her heart felt content.


	5. Friends

Hello! Only one chapter left after this chapter. But I will be working on a sequel that takes place 8-10 years after this story ends. It will be taking place during the events of Birth By Sleep. Well enjoy! Things are starting to get interesting by this point. ;)

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Morning had arrived, so Terra and Cinderella were already outside preparing to play their game. The cool winter air blew across the small girl's cheeks, causing them to look a rosy red color.

"Alright how about you hide first and I will look for you?" Terra suggested.

Cinderella put her hands on her hips. "Okay but no peeking! And don't come looking for me until you count to ten."

Terra crossed his fingers. "I know I promise!" The boy turned around and put his head against a tree, covering eyes with his hands.

"One..." Terra began, and Cinderella darted off. She ran through the woods giggling looking back at the brown haired boy behind her until she could no longer see him.

She continued running, not paying attention to where she was, and ran right out of the woods. She shook her head, slightly confused as to where she ended up.

As she was looking the girl felt a hand grab her right arm. Startled, she turned around to see that it was a police officer, wearing a badge and a police hat. "I was told to search for a missing girl and you fit the description. Please come with me." he said pulling her along. She struggled to pull free, but the man's tight grip kept her small arm in his grasp.

They walked until they had reached the house that belonged to her stepmother. Cinderella's heart sank. This is the last place she ever wanted to go back to. The officer walked up the steps and knocked on the familiar large white front door.

A recognizable voice grumbled "Who is it?" as she opened the door. It was Cinderella's stepmother. The officer spoke up. "Is this your missing daughter ma'am?" The Woman kneeled down and pulled Cinderella into her arms.

"Yes, oh than goodness you found her. I was so worried. Are you alright dear? Are you hurt anywhere?" the mother said feigning concern in her voice.

The officer nodded. "I found her running in the woods and she looked to fit the description so I thought I would bring her here."

"Alright please come in sir." she said motioning to the officer to walk into the house. The three of them walked inside and the mother asked the officer to sit down on a couch.

"I need a full report on the events that happened before I can go." The officer stated, after sipping a cup of tea the woman placed down for him.

The stepmother held the little girl's hand. "Yes could you tell him what happened? Don't worry we won't be cross with you, I promise."

Cinderella shook her head, saying nothing. The stepmother sighed. "Perhaps I should speak with her alone? She is very shy."

The officer agreed, so the stepmother led the girl upstairs in her bedroom and shut the door. Letting the act of kindness slip away, the woman shoved the girl on the floor. "Now you will tell me! Where did you go? If you ran away...I swear I will make you're life miserable!"

Cinderella began shivering and grabbed her head, whimpering. She wanted this all to stop. She wanted to leave this place and go back to living with Terra, where she was happy.

The woman kneeled down looking the girl in the eyes, and just seconds later the window flew open and someone jumped inside grabbing Cinderella from behind. The stranger held a weapon up to her neck.

The surprised older woman jumped back and plastered herself against the door.

Cinderella looked down at the weapon...it belonged to Terra.

"Back away or I will kill her!" Terra shouted in a menacing voice. Cinderella began sobbing and the stepmother began shouting for help. Terra leaned in closer and began whispering in her ear. _"Don't worry I won't hurt you. If your stepmother thinks you ran away she will make you suffer. If she thinks I kidnapped you, she won't be so mad."_

Cinderella began shivering. She didn't want Terra to get himself into trouble for her sake, it just made no sense. He had never done anything wrong.

"No stop it!" she shouted, "You can't do this."

Terra gave a dark grin. "Oh I think you'll find that I very well can. I won't let you escape again! You're my prisoner!"

The stepmother continued yelling and the police officer ran up the stairs and pulled the boy away from Cinderella, tackling him to the ground. He pulled handcuffs off his belt and handcuffed Terra's hands behind his back. Then he lifted the boy to his feet and held onto the collar of his shirt. Terra squirmed, trying to pull away, but to no avail.

The officer and stepmother began questioning the boy about what he had just done.

"A few days ago I snuck into this house and found that girl..." he said pointing to Cinderella "Sleeping in her bed, and I was bored so I thought it would be fun to kidnap her." he said with dark chuckle."_He almost plays the part a little too well."_ Cinderella thought.

The officer shook his head. "Quite a shame. It seems like people are just committing crimes younger and younger these days. You know this means you're off to prison young man?" Terra hung his head sadly and said nothing. So the officer pushed his back and made him walk toward the door. On his way out he whispered a few words to Cinderella, as the grown ups talked.

_"Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials. And don't ever forget your dreams they will keep you strong."_

The girl felt tears poor down her cheeks, unable to say a word. The stepmother noticed the girl crying and turned to the officer. "Take this boy out of here! He's upsetting my daughter." Cinderella continued crying. It was the first time that her stepmother called the girl her daughter, but she could tell that it was only out of pity.

The officer walked out the room and the stepmother followed after. "Stay here and rest Cinderella." she said in a calm voice closing the door behind her. The instant her mother left the room, the girl ran to the window looking to see if they had walked outside.

The three had walked outside, and stood there for a while talking. After a few moments another man walked up to them, grabbing Terra's arm. It was the same man that was in the photo Cinderella had seen. The boy gasped "M-Master!"

The police officer walked over to the man. "Who are you?" he asked

"I am the boy's guardian. My name is Eraqus. I came here to take him home."

The stepmother gave him an irritated glare. "That will not happen. This boy kidnapped my daughter and he is going to prison to be punished."

The man looked down at the boy. "Is this true Terra?"

The boy said nothing and looked down at the ground. Eraqus walked up to the stepmother and officer and formed a glowing light in this hand that appeared to stun the both of them. Then he walked back to Terra and removed the handcuffs.

He pulled his young student to the side. "Not only do you run away from home but now you are causing problems in other worlds? Have I taught you nothing?" he said in a stern tone.

Terra gave the man a sorry look. "I'm sorry master. I wasn't thinking..."

"I can see that. Well the damage has already been done, promise you will never do this again and I will take you home."

The boy nodded. "Yes sir, I promise." he looked over at the two stunned people. "What did you do to them?" he asked.

"I used a magic to freeze them in place. In a moment I will remove the spell and I will rewrite their memories along with everyone else you met in this world, they must never remember you."

"Wait! Don't erase everyone's memories! I made a friend here and I don't want her to forget me!"

Eraqus shook his head. "I'm afraid, I can't do that. You've broken so many rules that Keyblade wielders stand by, if I let her keep her memories then you will never be allowed to become a Keyblade Master.

Terra looked down at the ground. "Okay fine. I'll give up being a Keyblade wielder."

The two heard a small shout coming from the house and Cinderella came running outside. "Wait! Don't give up your Keyblade! Becoming a master is your dream! It's the most important thing to you! Don't give it up for my memories!"

"Ella..." Terra said, looking over at his friend.

"I'll be alright. I promise! I have my own dreams now, so I can be happy. Even if I have to live with my stepmother."

Terra frowned. "Okay..."

"So then you will allow me to erase their memmories?"

Terra nodded, and Eraqus formed the strange light in his hand once again. The bright light caused Cinderella and everyone in the area to pass out including Terra.

Eraqus looked down at his pupil. "I'm sorry Terra, but I had to erase your memories as well. This experience was not good on your heart. It planted too many seeds of darkness. If I would have let these memories remain, you would have grown far too close to the darkness."

The man propped the boy up against a tree and picked up Cinderella in his arms. He carried the young girl back into her room and laid her on the bed. Before walking out of the room he turned to look at her again. _"I can sense that this girl has a heart of pure light. I guess the legendary princess's of heart do exist after all. Her heart is so strong I don't know if the memories I erased from her will be gone forever." _he thought, walking out.

He walked over to Terra and picked him up in his arms. Then he released the freeze spell he had placed on the two other people.

The stepmother wearily placed a hand on her head. "What just happened?"

Eraqus pointed into the brush. "A man just tried to kidnap your daughter and ran into the woods. You had better get him before he escapes."

The officer nodded and took off into the brush.

The stepmother politely nodded her head at Eraqus. "Thank you for telling us." she said before going back into the house.

The man looked down at the boy in his arms and touched a hand to his face. "It's time to get you home." the master said summoning his Keyblade glider and hopping on it. Then he piloted the two of them back to The Land of Departure.


	6. Lost Memories

"Yep I don't remember a thing!" Terra said poking himself in the head.

Aqua giggled and pulled a chair up to the boy's bedside. "Wow you must have hit your head really hard!"

"Yeah I know." the brown haired boy said, scratching the bandages that where wrapped around his head.

After Eraqus brought his student home he carried the boy in his room and Terra continued sleeping for several days._ "The process to rewrite the memories of a strong heart can be strenuous. He may sleep for quite a while." _the man thought to himself._ "But it will all be worth it when he wakes up. Those memories where doing his heart no good. He is not ready to yet know what the outside world holds." _Today was the first day Terra had awakened since his sleep and he appeared to be just fine.

The Master stepped into Terra's room. "How are you feeling?"

The boy smiled. "Just fine sir! I can't wait to get back to my training." The man nodded at him. "Well that will have to wait, you took quite a tumble down those stairs and I don't want you to to re-injure yourself."

Terra put a fist in the air. "I'll be better in no time!" Aqua giggled and the master rubbed the boy's head.

"Well I had better get back to my business. Aqua I want you to come out of there in a moment to let Terra rest. You have some training to do anyway."

The girl nodded. "Okay in a minute Master."

The two children continued talking for a while and Aqua handed him a flower. "Here this is a present for you! Feel better soon!" she said with a smile.

He took the flower and thanked her. Moments later his eyes welled with tears and Aqua gasped. "What's wrong you don't like it? Or are you hurting anywhere?"

Terra touched his face and felt the warm tears. "That's strange, for some reason I'm...sad. I don't even know why, but I feel like I forgot something important."

Aqua frowned and pulled him into a hug. "Don't worry I'm sure your fine."

He closed his eyes and lied back down. "Yeah your right, maybe my head injury is just acting up."

Aqua stood up and pushed the chair away. "Okay, then I will let you rest." she said walking out of the room and closing the door.

Meanwhile, on Cinderella's world the girl was having a similar feeling. She looked out her bedroom window and stared at the Castle of Dreams running a hand through her blonde hair. "I feel like I've forgotten something and I just can't figure out what it is..."

She heard a voice calling her. "Cinderella! Come in here and scrub this floor. I know being kidnapped was a traumatic experience, but you need to let it go. I've given you enough days to rest already."

The girl shook her head. She couldn't remember anything about being kidnapped; the only thing she remembered was waking up in her bed after the officer brought her home. And after coming home she felt different somehow. She was a lot more cheerful feeling inside and was always daydreaming out her window. Feeling happier after being kidnapped just seemed like a very odd thing. "I never used to do that before. So why do I day dream all the time now?" she smiled "Oh well at least I'm happier now than I was." The girl skipped out her door and took the brush and bucket from the corner of the kitchen. Then began scrubbing the floor while humming a tune to herself.

_"Someday..."_ the girl thought _"I'm going to make a beautiful dress and wear it to the ball! That is my dream..."_


End file.
